2023 Book Review #19: The Orphans of Mersea House

 

This author was new to me as of last summer when I was browsing our town library's shelves.  I read her entire trilogy and loved each mystery. So when I saw she had another book set in England, I snatched it up.  It kind of disappointed me. 

STORY SUMMARY

It is 1957 on the Suffolk coast of England. Olive Kersey is in her late 30s and has never been married. Her only love never came back from World War II and now she's alone, penniless and without her parents or her gay brother Donald who also died in the war. 

Her childhood friend, Margery Paxton, arrives on her doorstep one day and Olive is surprised to see her. It's been 15 years since they've seen each other!  Margery had moved to London to work at the BBC during the war. She is back in town to claim her inheritance.....a large house called Mersea House. Her Uncle Milkey left it to her along with the store titled Paxton's Goods, an old fashioned general store. 

Olive is pleasantly surprised...and relieved that soon money won't be an issue....when Margery offers her a position as housekeeper at Mersea House.  Margery is turning Mersea House into a boardinghouse! In fact, Olive will be in charge of everything at Mersea House while Margery runs Paxton's Goods. 

Mersea House, though, has some mysteries....and maybe some dangers. 

The first 2 boarders begin  the rumors flying about town by the town's most nosy  neighbor and gossip, Binny. The first boarder, Mr Hugh Hodson is the manager of the town's movie theater. The 2nd boarder is Mrs Abigail Claypool from London. She is a widow and very much a recluse.  That's the first mystery......the other mystery is the friend of Hugh's named Sidney from London. Just who is he and how does he fit into Hugh's life?

And then all of a sudden, there is a third lodger and one that is a complete surprise to Margery:  an 11 year old girl who suffered from polio when she was just 4 years old, is now a ward of Margery's.  Her name is Juniper Wyckes and she is an orphan.  Margery apparently knew Juniper's father! And...Juniper's father was Margery's first love!!

Mrs Lucie Pagett is the children's officer at the local authority and she informs Margery that since Margery is named the legal guardian for Juniper, that she must live at Mersea House for she's been in and out of foster homes for several months as Margery was difficult to find. As everyone begins to love Juniper, Mrs Pagett makes several visitations and says if anything jeopardizes the health and welfare of the little girl, she will be removed from Mersea House. 

There are many secrets among all of the members of this home. And they learn that the past is never far behind them. Will these secrets destroy the friendships they have created??

MY THOUGHTS

I wanted to love this book because I totally loved the First Edition Library Mystery series trilogy. But this was nothing like those. 

I found the book's plots a bit stifling and contrived. 

I did like the characters, particularly Juniper and Billy Grunyon, another 11 yr old boy who delivers the groceries to Mersea House. They, in my opinion, were the most believable characters. 

There were basically 3 plots.  It's very much driven by the characters and the plots weren't all that exciting.  The characters are what make this book readable. 

The author does a good job in describing the characters' losses, loneliness, hopes and dreams.  

Some other themes are friendship, singleness, homosexuality, acceptance, polio, widowhood, orphans, death and love. 

I felt like the book was just slow moving.  

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 7.